Tamara Huff Email and Phone Number

Provide Project Engineering support as needed at both the DRTA facility in Rincon, GA and the Pinova facility in Brunswick, GA. Installed a scale data program and updated the process to reduce human errors associated with incoming shipments of raw materials. Replacing and repairing platforms throughout the facility to improve plant safety. Leading a project to redesign and improve waste water treatment and allow for cheaper disposal of water. Repairing incorrectly design concrete containments to reduce waste and reduce damage to equipment. Improving pallet security through in-line stretch wrap and cardboard machines and better bag preparation.

Map the raw material stream from the source through the finished product and improve the process to reduce rosin cost.  Perform gap analysis and develop action items and timelines for completion. Led a cross functional team to implement actions based on priority.Manage inventory of the wood in the plant to allow for increased rosin count, decreased moisture, and surety of inventory. This lead to an increase in rosin for processing of 20%.Installed new scale tracking system to monitor movements of wood in the facilitySpecified and purchased new scale for wood chips to the extraction system to increase accuracy of the measurement by 3%.Developed capital plan to install automatic sampler for incoming wood to increase sampling of the shipments from 3% to 15%. Improved the quality of the incoming raw material by 20% through increased sampling, new specifications, and improvement strategies with the contractors.Developed sampling strategy and performance metrics for the wood sourcing group.Closely involved in developing the wood raw material budget as well as daily and monthly accounting metrics for wood.

Direct supervision of four supervisors and two engineersIndirect supervision of 60 hourly employeesResponsible for a Rosin Ester unit, a hydrogenation unit, a Terpene Resin Unit, a Phosphate Ester Unit, a Methyl Ester Unit, the packaging lines in an SQF warehouse, and the shipping department. Responsible for the hiring, training and disciplining of hourly employees and salary supervisors Participate in Responsible Care Management System and ISO 9001 certification and SQF, cGMP yearly audits.Investigate customer complaints to determine root causes and corrective actions.Work with customers to determine specialty packaging requirements, customer trials, and customer audits and visits.

Direct supervision of eight shift supervisors, one engineer, and a foremanIndirect supervision of 60 hourly employeesResponsible for eight emulsion reactors, eight liquid reactors and all associated equipment and storage tanks.Responsible for the hiring, training and disciplining of hourly employees and salary supervisors Implemented a training and certification program for the Emulsion packaging and polymerization operatorsParticipate in Responsible Care Management System and ISO 9001 procedures and trainingInvestigate customer complaints to determine root causes and corrective actions.Oversaw installation of new reactors and equipment to increase production by 30%.Increased year over year production of emulsions by 11% by reduction in cycle times and downtime on the reactorsManaged raw material inventories for the facility. Tracked and ordered all bulk raw materials for one-half of the site.Maintained PSM and RMP compliance for the plantParticipated in PSM, ISO, and RCMS auditsDeveloped safety toolbox program for the plant. This included training supervisors, writing toolbox topics, and ensuring safety toolboxes were given on a daily basis.Managed, led, and participated in 5S/Kaizen projects for the plant to ensure a clean, safe, and productive unit.Championed the Behavioral Based Safety program in the unit.Maintained on-spec production of 98.5% for the emulsion plantManaged the bulk loading and small order shipment of finished product at approximately 100 pallets of finished product per day and 8 to 12 trucks per day.Reduced truck loading demurrage through better communication and planning by 18%.

Lead the Rosin Dispersion Department to set record production levels through close cooperation between Operations, Corporate Technology, and Research and Development group.Supervise twenty-two hourly employees Participate in the hiring, training and disciplining of hourly employees Implemented a training and certification program for the Rosin Dispersion Department and the Finished Product WarehouseConduct weekly departmental safety meetings for hourly employeesConduct Task Risk Analyses on critical tasksImplement environmental and housekeeping controls to minimize and react to spills in the areaInvestigate customer complaints to determine root causes and corrective actions.Working with Technology, Process Technology, and Production personnel to change the batch dispersion process to a continuous dispersion process and increase production by 300%.Increased year over year production of the batch rosin dispersions by 43%Decreased off grade production of the dispersions by 7%Increased compliance to schedule of dispersions by 5%Responsible for the finished product flaking of rosin esters, including product quality, packaging quality, and overall package appearance.Reduced downtime associated with flaking by 42%Reduced packaging errors by 33%Participated in an interdisciplinary group to study and improve reliability in the Finished Product Warehouse.Conduct Failure Mode Effectiveness Analysis on the flaked rosin system

Production lead on a plant-wide improvement project that increased profitability of the facility by over $1MM the first year and set four production records in the first four monthsImproved communication between departments through effective meetings, Management Control and Reporting System, and RACI matricesDeveloped Short-term Interval Controls for plant production unitsDeveloped Key Performance Indicators for the facilityImplemented Root Cause Analysis and Failure Mode Effectiveness Analysis programs Used DMAIC and six sigma principles to increase recovery in the refineryActed as relief Production Superintendent for three salaried direct reports and thirty-two hourly employeesPerformed relief supervisor duties for twenty hourly employeesWorked closely with Research and Development and Corporate Technology to develop new products through plant trials and formulation adjustmentsResponsible for conducting trials on products to further reduce cycle times and improve yieldsInstalled a new agitator design that decreased cycle times by 10% and increased yields by 2%Managed multiple capital improvement projects from design to implementation phaseInstalled new instrumentation for the units to increase reliability Installed new packaging line printer to reduce packaging errors and improve customer satisfactionDesigned the lining and heating coils in a relief device pit to reduce cleaning costs by $30,000 per yearInstalled new pumps to increase reliability and decrease transfer timeReduced downtime by 15% by performing downtime pareto analysisPerformed investigations of off-grade product to determine the root cause and corrective actions to reduce off-grade production

Responsible for overall reliability and integrity of mechanical equipment of the facility. This included all tanks, pressure vessels, pumps, heat exchangers, fans, and motorsStorage Tank Inspection Coordinator for the facility Gained extensive knowledge of API 650, API 653, ASME 510 standards and requirements for inspection and repair of vesselsEnsured that tanks, heat exchangers, and pressure vessels were inspected when requiredResponsible for repair of equipment to meet standardsConducted pump seal failure analysis on every failed seal in the facilityTracked data to determine problem areas to focus attentionReduced pump seal failures throughout the plant by approximately $75,000.Conducted root-cause failure analysis on major failures in the plant and instituted changes based on those findingsWorked closely with subject matter experts to determine path forward on issues ranging from extensive boiler failures to metallurgical problems Instituted vibration monitoring of critical equipment in the facility leading to increased reliability and instant savings in the plantResponsible for many capital improvement projects for the facility Replaced and repaired tanks (replacement of roofs and of bottoms of tanks) Replaced and repaired heat exchangers Installed safety cages and platforms at railcar unloading stations

Responsible for conducting a steam survey and identifying the top priorities in steam loss and heat reductionPerformed troubleshooting on cooling water system to determine the cause of constant vacuum problems and extended cycle times in a batch process. Determined the problem was quality of the cooling water and institutes changes in the water treatment that corrected the problem.Performed a reliability analysis that showed the cost of production reliability versus maintenance reliability. Showed that the unit was not being utilized efficiently and that the true problem lay in production reliability, not maintenance reliability. Generated current equipment list and specifications for the equipment to supply to other facilities.

Redesigned a water fill line and an overflow line to a lime slurry tank.Performed heat load calculations for a new oil/water separation process in the wastewater treatment plant.Developed a program to generate trend reports of activity/potential problems in the units.Developed well water testing procedures to verify mechanical integrity of pumps.

Reduced water to the caustic scrubber eliminating 130,000 gallons of aqueous waste per year.Assisted Process, Project, and Production Engineers with design, optimizations, and implementation of an agitator that reduced waste by 30% in the production reactors.Modified Honeywell Distributed Control System programs that controlled and monitored plant operations. Initiated Process Change Authorizations and conducted Process Hazard Analyses on the proposed changes in a PSM covered process and ISO-9000 certified facility.Updated Piping and Instrumentation and Electrical Hazardous Classification Diagrams.